Over the course of more
than two decades with
Housing Works’ HIV Law
Project, attorney Armen H. Merjian has
conducted impact litigation on issues
involving HIV/AIDS, homelessness, public
benefits, disability, gender, and housing
discrimination.
Armen has litigated numerous
landmark cases, including Hanna v.
Turner, which gave homeless New Yorkers
living with AIDS the right to receive sameday
placement in emergency housing;
and Henrietta D. v. Bloomberg, which
Armen
H. Merjian
Housing Works (HIV Law Project)
established that failing to offer reasonable
accommodations is an independent
form of disability discrimination.
Among other cases, Armen helped
land a victory in Bumpus v. New York City
Transit Authority, which concluded that
40,000 transit authority workers would not
be exempt from the city’s human rights
law. He also worked on Wilson v. Phoenix
House, which found that drug treatment
programs must abide by New York State
human rights law and respect protections
for transgender individuals.
Armen is a co-author of the national
treatise on AIDS, “AIDS and the Law,” and
serves as a member of the American Bar
Association’s HIV/AIDS Impact Project. He
is a contributing author of the “Civil Rights
Litigation and Attorney Fees Handbook”
and “Tenants & Landlords NYC: Not a
Love Story.” He is also the author of 18 law
review articles on human and civil rights.
Prior to joining Housing Works, Armen
was a solicitor at Herbert Smith and
Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam, and Roberts.
Armen graduated from Yale University
and Columbia University Law School.
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